Tower Bridge closes to enable lighting upgrade

Tower Bridge will close to road traffic this weekendTower Bridge will be close to traffic this weekend to enable the upgrading of the bridge’s 25-year-old lights with a new, energy efficient system.

The closure will be in effect between 23:00 on 25th November and 05:00 on 28th November.

Plans for the new lighting system were announced in April by the City of London Corporation which owns and manages the bridge via the Bridge House Estates charity.

The upgrade is also being supported by the Greater London Authority, Mayor of London Boris Johnson, EDF Energy and GE.

This weekend’s closure is to allow the erection of scaffolding needed to carry our the upgrade and work is expected to continue until March 2012.

The new LED lighting system is expected to reduce the bridge’s energy consumption by around 40%.

Transport for London says during the weekend closure, traffic and cyclists will be diverted via the Rotherhithe Tunnel and Southwark Bridge although pedestrians will still be able to use the footways across bridge during the weekend.

A further bridge closure is planned for the weekend of 16-19 December to remove scaffolding.